Chapter 58
The boundary that indicated both the starting line and finish line.
I crossed that yellow line that was marked on the ground.
And then……
“21 minutes and 27 seconds! We have our 1st place!”
Many things changed.
“As the event presented is the finale of the Grand Festival, the winner of the triathlon is…… Ignit Magic Academy’s Ruin! It’s Ruin Ardell!”
“WOAAAAAAAAH!”
“Ruin! Ruin! Ruin! Ruin!”
“……”
Crowned twice in both the Battle Survival and the Triathlon.
A flawless victory within individual matches.
1st place in the combined points too.
These were all records that were created as soon as I crossed the Triathlon’s finish line.
I received a standing ovation from the audience of Altein Stadium, and they cheered my name.
They also attached a title in front of my name that wasn’t ‘Failure’, but something else.
‘Next-Generation Magician’.
The prodigy that would lead the next generation.
Yeah.
My life had changed overnight.
Well, how can I say this……
I couldn’t really explain how I felt at all.
It was as if I heard a voice in the distance saying,
‘Ruin. You’ve been through a lot.’
Not just the duration of the Grand Festival.
But that dark void I was wading through for the last 6 years.
Yeah.
A reward.
It was the feeling of receiving a reward for my hard work for all that time.
After having felt this feeling of reward, I also gained some desires.
“Ruin! Ruin! Ruin! Ruin!”
“……”
Those cheers that were pouring out onto me……
I didn’t want to lose it.
That was why, just as I told Seta before the race started.
I smiled brightly and lifted my hand into the air.
“……Thank you.”
This was my first response towards the cheers and applause.
And also, an open declaration that the position of ‘main character of the festival’ that Doom had monopolized was now taken by me.
Yeah.
A new next-generation magician.
An unfamiliar name that lodged itself into the mind of every magician on the continent.
Ruin Ardell.
With this, the Grand Festival that opened this spring finally came to an end.
If someone had asked me about my thoughts on this long and adventurous competition, I wanted to say this.
That it was just the beginning.
This Grand Festival was just a foothold to my life that would unfold in the future.
* * *
The closing ceremony of the Grand Festival was also magnificent.
It wasn’t prepared by the schools, but by the Raynac Imperial Federation itself.
It consisted of parades of the imperial soldier’s military exercises, bayonet marching, and the performances of the Magic Tower’s magicians.
After this series of ceremonies had ended, the awards ceremony was carried out.
“……Never have I ever even dreamed of seeing our school signet being hung at the very top.”
“Yeah…… I’m not dreaming, right? If I am, don’t wake me up.”
It was just as Jason said.
The incandescent lightning seal that represented our Ignit Magic Academy, and the protector of the night, the ‘Moon Owl’ seal, which represented the Ardell house, was displayed at the highest point of the stadium.
For reference, 2nd place was Doom Prime.
3rd was Irene Prius.
As night approached after the closing ceremony, the dark sky was lit up by hundreds of fireworks.
The Altein commercial district became crowded by a sea of people that were enjoying the Grand Festival’s last night of festivities.
With this, the public events of the Grand Festival had all ended.
But we still had one private event left.
The Great Banquet.
“Damn. How many people is that……?”
The street was filled with lines of carriages carrying nobles that came a long way from all over the continent to attend the banquet that was held on the last night of the Grand Festival.
At first, we started counting the amazing carriages that were too flamboyant to be seen in our own territories.
But we soon gave up.
It was because there were already tens of nobles, each accompanied by multiple attendants, and soon, the number of people exceeded multiple hundreds.
“Well, that’s a pretty big crowd, but I heard that this was a small selection.”
“Yeah. I heard that not just any normal noble families were invited to this……”
These nobles were still said to be a small selection of all the nobles on the continent.
There were two main reasons the nobles sought this event.
The first was to gain the attention of Fire King Teron.
And the second……
“All those people…… they’re all here to see Ruin.”
“That’s obvious. Ruin’s the main character today.”
To make contact with talented magicians and win them over.
With congratulating me, the victor, and other students that showed great performances as a cover, their true intentions were to make connections with us early in our lives.
These students would graduate in a matter of months.
They would need to decide what they wanted to do in the future.
Naturally……
“……But it seems like Ruin himself isn’t interested in anyone.”
I didn’t care about these things.
As I shrugged my shoulders instead of replying, Jason asked me, feeling frustrated,
“Ruin! What are you wearing? Don’t you have anything else?”
“Nah, I don’t.”
“Hey! Who the hell wears this tattered cloth to the last night’s banquet? You should’ve worn something clean.”
“Tattered cloth? I’ll have you know this clothing is pretty comfortable.”
I flicked the beige shirt and black cloth pants.
Saying it was tattered.
His tone was too harsh.
However, in Jason’s eyes, this wasn’t good enough.
“Ruin. I know you’re not the type to go partying, but on days like this, you’re supposed to wear some uncomfortable clothes. I can’t let this go. Take your clothes off. I’ll take off mine and give them to you, so wear it.”
Jason was wearing a pretty good-looking purple tailcoat and he tried to take it off to give it to me.
I declined this immediately.
“It’s fine.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Why would I wear your clothes?”
“Because no one will care about me, even if I dress up nicely! You need to look better than me anyway.”
“……”
The reason that I wasn’t caring too much about it wasn’t because I really didn’t care about it.
It was because I felt the need to weed out some people myself.
“Wait. Should it be Ruin that needs to look good to those people?”
“Of course! Some of those people hold supreme power in their nations. If we look good for them, good things will come to us in the—”
“No. Shouldn’t it be those people that need to look good for Ruin?”
* * *
Translator – Ramen
Proofreader – Artethrax
* * *
“……Wait. I-is it like that……?”
The banquet and the party.
Beautiful dresses and tailcoats.
Refined classical music too.
Some showed false affection to look good.
Some flattered without meaning it.
And some tried to laugh loudly to pull attention.
My father was a noble too, but he was one who always distanced himself from this aspect of nobility……
And I was influenced by him.
Yeah.
Clothing shouldn’t be a big deal.
“Imagine if I wore those dirty gym clothes. A shirt and pants. This much is enough.”
“Yeah. My bad. It should be those nobles that should look good for you. But you should know that high society isn’t simple like that. Those places are filled with self-centered young masters that would think that you’re disrespecting them because you’re not dressed up properly.”
“That’s enough. I get what you’re trying to say, but let’s end it at that.”
“……”
I completely stopped the talks about clothing from this point onward.
Jason nodded his head in astonishment.
“You’re… really one of a kind.”
“That’s my charm.”
“Why don’t you just turn this banquet upside down if those nobles bother you?”
“I might actually do it.”
“……Pft. It’s scary because you actually would.”
We loudly exchanged jokes and laughed as we stood from our seats.
It was already time for my entrance.
“Then, Ruin, I’ll see you inside.”
“Alright. See you in a bit.”
The Great Banquet had a bit of an embarrassing tradition.
It was that the winner of the Grand Festival entered last, but I didn’t know why they would even bother with such a thing.
How should I say this…?
It felt as if the most valuable product was being displayed last.
It didn’t really feel great to be compared to a product.
But I determined myself to enjoy this moment.
Since, whatever happened…
“Please enter.”
“……”
I was the main character today.
Creak— Thump!
The two attendants opened the flashy doors to the banquet and bright light shined through.
“Oh ho…… He’s finally here.”
“Well, well! Let’s welcome our winner.”
Simultaneously, the voices of the people and the sound of music both stopped.
It felt as if time itself had frozen.
The moment where everyone was solely waiting for my entrance.
I drew everyone’s gaze and confidently walked in.
It was truly extravagant.
This huge banquet hall that looked as if it could cater up to a thousand people was even big enough to have an artificial garden inside.
Many tables filled this hall and the hundreds of people sitting at these tables were all focused on me.
The funny thing was that all these people were wearing tailcoats or formal dresses.
Except, for me.
Looking at everyone here, I slightly nodded.
“It’s Ruin Ardell.”
“The winner of this year has arrived!”
With the shout of a noble, everyone clapped at once.
Clap clap clap clap……!
Most people looked like they welcomed me on the outside.
But I could feel the resistance from multiple nobles’ gazes.
‘What is he wearing……? Is he making fun of us?’
‘He has no manners. Just what family is he from?”
‘Seems he’s from some backwater family. Tsk tsk. How uncouth.”
I could plainly see what they were thinking, but I didn’t pay it any mind.
“Kekek. He knew what he was doing. He came dressed like that to show everyone that he was the main person today. He’s saying that the ones who should be careful aren’t him, but us.”
“I’ll at least commend him for his bravery. Well, he still looks lacking in principle…”
“That’s that guy’s charm.”
“……Yeah. Well, I like him even more like that.”
“He’s a pretty good item. Kekek.”
Real recognize real.
Even the choice of purposefully selecting this outfit.
Yeah.
Right now, I was the most precious product in the world.
They were presented with a treasure that couldn’t easily be given a price.
That was why the one who needed to look good wasn’t me……
But them.
I smiled brightly toward the nobles that would constantly value me more and more tonight..
“Thank you for the warm welcome. Well then. Let’s enjoy this banquet.”
Clap……!
As I clapped once, the music started to flow once again.
The banquet had officially begun.
